It's been announced in the last 24 hours that Van Persie will be missing for five months after suffering the injury in action for Holland earlier this month.

“If I had known at the time what I know now, I would have been operated [on] immediately,’’ Van Persie told arsenal.com. “We have all been steered in the wrong direction.’’

However the Dutch international does not regret his visit to Kovacevic.

He says: “In the area of torn muscles and partly torn ligaments she has treated players in the majority of cases with success. A number of Liverpool and Chelsea players have all benefited from her treatments. They were all back on the pitch in a very short time.

“As I was enjoying a fantastic period with Arsenal and the first official diagnosis from the doctors was that I would be out for six weeks, I wanted to bring that period back to three or four weeks.

“But the ligaments in my ankle were completely ruptured. That’s why the treatment in Serbia, we know now, never had the chance to be successful from the start.

“I have never wanted to go for alternative medical help before. Normally I am too cool for that kind of thing.

“But because I wanted to grab every opportunity to get fit again and to be back on the pitch with Arsenal, I decided to have a go. If it does not help me, it won’t harm me either. That was my motto.

“I had the treatment methods checked intensively before I went out there. I demanded to know if there was any way it could do any damage. It couldn’t. Which is why I went.

“A lot has been said and written about it. But the method of treatment in Serbia is not a bizarre thing. I did not have anything injected in my body. The treatment was solely on the surface.’’

Van Persie says he did underestimate the impact of his visit to Serbia.

“People say I should have kept it quiet. But because I always want to be honest and I felt as if I had nothing to hide, I wanted to be open about it.

“I was in continuous contact with the medical staff at Arsenal, with whom I have an excellent relationship. In fact, I admire our medical people at the club for giving me the chance to work on a really fast return into the team. A lot of other people made comments without having any knowledge of the treatment methods in Serbia.’’